


A Future Survey

by soupypictures



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M, Prompt Fic, larrie-free content, not a larrie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-02 17:12:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12730812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soupypictures/pseuds/soupypictures
Summary: For my birthday I asked for prompts on tumblr. Here are the results!





	1. Liam and Louis Assemble a Toy

**Author's Note:**

> "Lilo -- baby play dates -- like they are putting some toy together and they are failures at anything manly like that so they just go out for ice cream or something instead."

Louis drops the pinchy thing he was trying to fit together. “Goddamnit fucking shit --”

“Tommo! There are _little ears_ in the room. Watch your language.” Liam’s words are sharp and unthinking and so like a _dad_ that Louis bursts out laughing. 

“Payno, you’ve got to lighten up. They’re not listening to a thing we’re doing over here.”

“You can never be too careful,” he says seriously, holding up the instructions and squinting at them. “Is this English?”

Louis snatches the papers and spreads them out in front of him, ignoring the words in favor of the pictures. “It can’t be that hard.”

“Famous last words.”

They decide after another half an hour (and a call to Liam’s dad) that they’ll just have to hire out for someone to build the contraption -- who knew a child’s toy could have so many parts and be so confusing? They’ve just settled on that course of action (Liam is put out, he insists that they can _do it_ if they just _try hard enough_ ) when Freddie approaches them with Bear’s hand tucked into his. 

“There’s the little lads! How did you like the trains?” Liam asks, tattooed hands reaching out to poke at each toddlers’ stomachs. They both laugh and push his hands away and Louis takes that moment to snatch up his son, push up his shirt, and blow raspberries on his round little tummy. Liam follows suit and the room is filled with the happy shrieks of toddlers.

Freddie sits himself down in Louis’s lap and grabs his hand, his small fingers tracing over Louis’s. “Where’s the toy?” Freddie asks, eyes on the stack of pieces in front of them. “Is that the toy?”

Bear is less worried about the toy. He has his father’s tattooed hands to inspect, and he’s only two years old.

“I’m afraid the toy is a bit tricky for Uncle Liam and me to assemble.”

Freddie frowns. “But Dad--”

“No no, none of that. We’ll get someone over to fix it up for you. In the meantime ...” Louis looks up at Liam, who has an anticipatory look on his face, like _What’ve you gotten us into, Tommo?_ and it’s almost like back in the days of the band, except now they’re sat in his living room with two toddlers and an unassembled toy. How will Tommo get them out of this jam? “Ice cream.”

“Ice cream!!” Freddie yells, throwing his little body back against his father’s, arms in the air in triumph. Bear mimics him, yelling and waving his arms and Liam laughs at their display. 

“Alright, where are your shoes, lads?” Freddie bolts from his lap to get his own and Bear pats Liam’s feet. “Mine are like Daddy’s.”

“Oh love, I do know that. Your Uncle Niall is what we call a one-trick pony.” To Liam, “Now come on, let’s get suited up and get some ice cream in our bellies. You think we should let the boys have some too?”

“Well, I don’t know if they’ve earned it,” Liam plays along, and they laugh together as they slide shoes on their sons’ little feet and pull their little jackets over their arms, asking how much they’ve helped their mums lately and how much they love their aunties. Louis locks up the house as they leave and takes a moment to snap a picture of Liam, who’s got one boy on each side, helping them manage the step on the front stoop. He sends it off in the group chat and attaches it separately in a message to Harry, who’s still not got Whatsapp.

“Dad!” Freddie yells, waving his free hand. “Let’s go! It’s ice cream time!”

Louis takes another picture and sends it off to his sisters. _Ice cream time with the best lads_.


	2. Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gryles -- "dancing"

“But we weren’t _dancers_ ,” Harry says doggedly from his position sprawled on the rug. As the night’s progressed the dogs have tired out and taken to their beds, spooned up like they love each other. Harry is more tired than drunk, but it doesn’t take him much to get tipsy anymore and Nick is just enjoying the view.

Well, the view and needling him about how he’d done the boyband act _all wrong_. “Come on, you don’t think your fans would have loved a bit of choreography?”

“We _had_ choreography,” Harry pouts.

“Oh, just to keep you all from running smack into each other on stage, let’s not get carried away.”

“It’s weird, the matching clothes and dancing. It’s not authentic. We were _authentic_.”

Nick laughs and decides to let him off the hook. “Alright, Harold. Come on up on the couch, the rug’s hand enough of your flopping about.”

“I like this rug, it’s a good rug. Deserves some love.” Harry flaps his arms and legs like he’s shaping a snow angel.

“It gets plenty of love in the form of dog poo.”

Harry’s face twists up and his limbs freeze. “You could have said. That’s not very nice.” He rolls his head to the side to look at Nick who’s sat on the couch. “You should treat people with _kindness_ , Grimshaw.”

“Oh get off it, Styles. Come here and have a cuddle. You’re too far away.” 

Harry rolls onto his stomach and pushes himself up to his hands and knees, crawls himself over to Nick’s legs. He props his chin on Nick’s knee and slow blinks up at him. “Am I close enough now?”

Nick slides his hand into Harry’s short hair and massages his fingertips into Harry’s scalp. “Well, almost.”


	3. Miss You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "how about elounor prompts? louis writing 'miss you' and playing it to el for the first time?"

He’s nervous.

There’s no one who’s made him as nervous as Eleanor’s made him, not his whole life. But no matter how many times he fucks up, she’s there. Sometimes with that disappointed look that cuts him to the core more than angry yelling ever could, but she’s there. 

Right now, she’s a bit pixelized on Skype, thousands of miles away. Her white earbuds snake up behind the soft waves of her hair and she’s smiling at him. Okay, he’s less nervous now.

“Did you get the track?” He’s e-mailed her his latest. Outside of everyone at the studio, she’s the first person to hear it and he regrets a bit that she wasn’t the _very very_ first.

“Yes! Can I play it finally?” It’d taken them longer than usual to get alone and connected and Louis curses the distance between them. He just wants her _here_. 

“Press play.”

She nods and points at him when she does. He can’t hear the song, but he knows it by heart, and watches her expressions as the song progresses.

A wistful smile across her pretty face, head bobbing to the beat and fingers tapping out the rhythm on her hotel desk. Louis spots a glint of light off her cheek and traces it down her face. She waves a hand at him like, “no, love, they’re not sad tears,” but that’s what he feels anyway.

Louis never knew the feeling _bittersweet_ until now. So many months away from Eleanor, always the one for him. His life partner, he knows now for _certain_ (like he’d known for sure those years ago), but those months also gave him the love of his life, his Freddie Reign. The guilt claws at him sometimes, when he’s not with either of them, like now.

Eleanor is wiping her cheeks with her sleeves by the end. “I love it, Lou,” she says, voice strong.

He has to tell her -- “I’m trying to reconcile everything. I feel so conflicted and ... that’s the album, really, figuring that out.” It isn’t what he means to say, but somehow, she knows.

“We wouldn’t be here without that time, love,” Eleanor says gently. “You needed it. All that had to happen or else ... we wouldn’t know how much we missed each other.”

She’s right, of course she is. She doesn’t say the phrase he heard too many times -- everything happens for a reason. She doesn’t talk about gifts or divine intervention or any of the other bullshit he’s heard from all corners. She keeps it to the two of them, something she’d been able to do from the very beginning in the craziness of the band. 

“I miss you right now,” he says, instead of all of the rest swirling in his brain and trying to slot into melody.

Eleanor smiles again and updates him on her travel plans, whipping her phone out to add his schedule to hers, asking after Freddie and what he’d gotten up to in his visit today. He sends her the video he’d taken and his heart is full with the sound of her laugh.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From a prompt on tumblr:
> 
> I have a rouGH day ahead of me tomorrow and just saw your prompt request so feel I should indulge you ;) ... I could also read 1 or 8 Lirry kidfic- well fluffy and domestic? So dads being home for dinner and night routine stuff but maybe something dramatic happened during the day? No deaths or near death experienced pls. I’m sorry, I realise all of these are proper vague….. 
> 
> AU Lirry, Harry teaches music at a primary school (of course he does) and Liam is on paternity leave with their daughter.

It’s past six and Harry _still_ isn’t home. Not a text, not an e-mail, not a call. Liam’s been worrying since four, when Harry usually texts to say when to expect him home. Penny is picking up on his worry, now, fussing against his shoulder as he dithers about in the kitchen, unsure if he should start putting dinner on or hold off. Or not bother altogether.

“It’s alright, sweetheart,” Liam soothes, trying to put as much confidence into his voice as he can muster. “Let’s go sit in the living room.” The blanket is still out from earlier, several board books scattered around the floor along with her favorite rubber giraffe. “Here love, here’s your Sophie.” With Penny settled on the floor gnawing on the giraffe with her gummy mouth, Liam pulls out his phone and checks it for notifications again. Nothing. He sends another text, _harry please call me i’m worried_. He doesn’t add the worst of it, _please be okay_.

Before his mind can get to the really bad places, Liam hears the key turning in the lock. The door swings open and Harry steps through. “Hey, love,” he says tiredly, dropping his bag by the stairs and entering the living room. He sinks to his knees and plants a kiss on Penny’s hair. “Hi sweet girl, you look happy, look at you with your Sophie. Is she good? She taste good?” Penny smiles at Harry and coos, then goes back to Sophie.

Harry directs his attention to Liam, knee-walks over to his side of the blanket and gives him a firm kiss on the mouth. “My phone died, a parent forgot to pick up their child and they needed another adult to wait with her and her teacher while they called around.” Harry reaches out to hold onto Penny’s socked foot. “I’m sorry I couldn’t call from the school phone, we had to keep everything normal for the girl. Well, not _normal_ , but like … not horrible. I couldn’t get on the phone with you and say, ‘Hey love, unexpectedly delayed because a shitstain of a father can’t remember that he’s got a little girl he’s got to pick up.’”

“Harry --”

“He _is_. It’s not the first time she’s been the last to be picked up.” Liam can see the weight of it on Harry’s shoulders, in the way he’s looking at Penny. “I’ll never do that to you, baby girl.”

“Of course you won’t,” Liam says, squeezing Harry’s knee. “I hadn’t started dinner, cheese toasties with soup sound alright?”

“That sounds wonderful.”

“You’ve got her?”

Harry smiles up at Liam as he stands. “Has she eaten?”

“No, she’ll be fussy here in about twenty minutes, I’d wager.”

“Did you hear that, Penny? I get to feed you a bottle! I get to get you milk-drunk and you’re going to fall asleep in my arms all warm and heavy.”

Liam tears himself away from the scene and heads to the kitchen. It’s going to take a little while to come back from the place his mind had been heading, but his home was complete now. His husband was home safe, even if his soft heart was a little bruised.

—

Harry is halfway through his cheese toastie when Penny makes the first fussy _I’m hungry, feed me, dads_ noises. Liam preps the formula and passes over the bottle. “My soup’s going to get cold,” Harry pouts, Penny secure in his arms but his own stomach rumbling. Liam rolls his eyes and dips Harry’s spoon in his soup. “Lean over here, no soup on the baby’s head.”

After a few spoonfuls – Liam alternates, he doesn’t want his soup going cold before he can eat it, either – Harry bursts out laughing, startling Liam and Penny. “I can’t believe you’re feeding me. Liam, you don’t have to do that, I can heat it up.”

Liam shrugs and offers another spoonful. Harry leans over, tongue-first, his eyes making this one a bit more … sexual … than the others. “I want to take care of you, H.” He looks at Penny, whose sucking has slowed. “Don’t let her fall asleep before she’s done.”

“Oh!” Harry turns his attention back to their daughter. “Eyes on the prize, missy. You’ve got to get a full tummy and then fall asleep so I can tell your daddy how much I love him and appreciate him.” Harry looks up at Liam. _Tell_ , he mouths.

“You’re holding our _daughter_ ,” Liam hisses, a bit scandalized.

“What?” Harry asks, faux innocently. He stands up as Penny finishes the bottle. “See you in a few. Leave the dishes, I’ll get them.”

—

Their nighttime routine after Penny goes down has been finely tuned to minimize sound. They move past each other for the bathroom, Harry lays out his clothes for the next day. Liam checks his e-mail and scrolls through instagram after he’s in bed. Harry joins him ten minutes later, sliding naked under the sheets and scooting close to Liam, peeking over his shoulder at the instagram feed. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” Liam whispers, clicking off his phone and setting it on the table. He lies down with his head on the pillow and faces Harry. “Love you.”

“Love _you_ ,” Harry says fiercely. “I’m sorry I let my phone die.”

Liam slides his hand over Harry’s hip and kisses him gently. “You’re forgiven, love.”

“I’ll buy a charger to keep at work so it doesn’t happen again.”

“It’s alright.”

“It’s _not_. You didn’t see your face when I came in the door.”

_And you didn’t see inside my head_. “Was just worried for you. I don’t know what I’d do without you. What Penny would do.”

Harry pulls Liam against him and turns his face into Liam’s neck. “I won’t leave you, I swear.”

Liam knows it, deep in his bones, that Harry would never. “You said you’d _tell_ me how much you love me?” He feels Harry laugh against his skin, and it’s on, Harry pushing Liam onto his back.

“Alright alright, I’ll show you now.”

And he does.


End file.
